A Marauder's life: Sirius Black
by JulietteJoyce
Summary: Sirius Black’s non-authorised, des-chronologically ordered, possible biography.
1. The night they first met Harry

**Disclaimer**: **_I own neither the Black family characters nor any other J.K.'s creations._**

**A/N**: _I would like to apologize if you can see any big and horrible mistake in spelling, vocabulary or grammar. My mother tongue is not English, and I'll try to do my best, but I would really appreciate if anyone corrects my errors. _

**A/N2**: _This is going to be a quite weird fic. My intention is to create a possible Sirius Black biography, but it's not going to be in chronological order, so you'll find a chapter talking about his adulthood and then I go back to his childhood. It goes back and forth the whole time, and so this would let you read the chapters in the order you desire. I hope you don't get confused and like this method._

_ And mainly, that's all. Thanks for reading and enjoy Sirius!!_

**1-****The night they first met Harry **

February and the appalling climate appeared jointly at Godric's Hollow that year. Whereas January had been a calm and quite sunny month, the following one had started very shaken – rough wind, unbeatable rain and icy coldness that did not soften at nightfall. So, it was reasonably normal to see the streets completely clear on that Saturday 16th. No one noticed, then, when, nearly five minutes to six o'clock in the evening, at the precise entrance of the village graveyard and after a gentle_ pop,_ a hooded figure, holding a red-and-purple box, materialized out of thin air.

The elegant tall shape moved in the darkness towards the light of the village lampposts and away from the gates of the graveyard where he had just Apparated. He left the main street behind, at the middle of which a round square stood, and turned left to face a new street full of cottages on both sides. The figure walked until he had reached the last cottage on the left, and, as he faced the house, he took off his cover, revealing a handsome young black-haired man.

After a little while, he opened the porthole and walked to reach the entrance door. He knocked on the door with his free hand, and after several seconds the door wasopened by a woman wearing an elegant maroon cloak, her long dark red hair falling on her shoulders, a mistrustful look upon her green eyes while she placed her hand on her quite sizeable stomach.

'Sirius' that was not a proper sentence, it was much more like a question.

'I am, indeed. Nice to see you, Lily. I've brought an Icy-sugar Mongoose Chocolates box, quite similar to the one James gave you for your sixteen birthday, right before he tried to kiss you and so you –'

'– all right, all right. No need reminding…' a man had appeared beside the young woman, who was laughing while she opened the door wider so the guest could come in. He was wearing glasses and his black hair was as untidy as it had always been. 'You know, Sirius, you don't really _need_ to humiliate me every time you tried to show yourself.'

'If I didn't do so, my friend' said the visitor, while he climbed through the steps and into the hall 'I would be a boring Death Eater who had impersonated the amusing Sirius Black' he hold a hand to the other man 'It's good to see you too, Prongs'

James Potter shook Sirius' hand while he rested his arm around his friend's shoulders. Sirius, then, turned to face Lily, and as he did so, the young woman jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. She then stepped forwards a little bit, still holding Sirius by his hips, and looked at him closely.

'Oh, Lily, please!' mocked Sirius 'we can't do it right here, in front of your own husband…'

'You shut up!!' cut off the woman 'I don't like the way you look, honestly. You're too thin. _Extremely thin_. How long has it been since your last proper meal?'

Sirius' expression changed. He was not exactly gloomy, but he was not wearing his broadly smile anymore. 'Don't worry, Lily. I'm not going to die –'

'– but I know –'

'Lily, honestly, forget it. And you know' he smiled innocently 'I've come here so you can feed me correctly'

The girl seemed to lose her attempt to argue back, and so she took her hands off Sirius's hips and aimed to turn to the kitchen right before her husband sympathetically said 'Lily, don't worry, I'll prepare the dinner, you don't need to do many efforts –'

'I'm pregnant, but I can still use my feet to walk and my hands to carry things. I don't need your help.' Then, maybe realizing that she was being rather harsh, added 'Thank you, darling, but I don't need you'

James looked at his wife while she directed herself to the kitchen, and, before guiding Sirius to the living room, he whispered 'I don't really know if I have to worry but… she's been a bit _bad-tempered_ for a few weeks. I guess it's because of the baby –'

They entered the living room and, when Sirius sat down – after he had helped James to summon plates, knives and forks – Minus, the Potter's cat, jumped to his lap.

James and Sirius started to talk about non-important matters, such as Quidditch or their childish mischief at Hogwarts, because, though they hadn't said it, they both had the feeling that they should wait for Lily to join them to start to discuss truly crucial things. And that happened the moment Lily and the flying food she was magically carrying – soup and chicken – came in.

'So, how are things round here?' asked Sirius before the others could speak. He was starving and he did not want to postpone his dinner because of his presumably long speech. 'What have you been doing?'

James and Lily exchanged dark looks, and the first one, who had tried and failed to ask that same question to Sirius, turned to his friend. 'Do you remember Professor Ophidian?'

Sirius hesitated 'Ophidian? You mean Wenoah Ophidian, the Divination teacher? The one who kept saying that I was going to spend most of my adulthood stuck on a room?' his smile faded away as he saw that neither Lily nor James were laughing or grinning. 'What happened to her?'

'She's dead. We found her body a month ago.' Lily made a little pause to sit down 'Dumbledore was worried because she had not returned from Christmas holidays. The term had started and there was no Divination teacher. She had asked to leave her safety at Hogwarts to visit her ill sister, but the second of January she wasn't there, so after a couple of days, Albus sent several Order members to look for her.'

'And that was Dedalus, Lily and I'

'We went to her house and there she was –' Lily stopped talking and wiped her tearful eyes.

'Apparently' continued her husband 'the Death Eaters had tried to get Dumbledore information out of her, but she refused to say anything, so – we couldn't have done anything for her, though'

'But the problem was' added Lily, this time her eyes were not filled with tears but irritation and hate. 'that no other but Voldemort himself was there. Maybe he was so foolish to think that Dumbledore in person would have gone there. Or maybe because he thought that we would be more easily persuadable than poor Ophidian. Anyway, he was also escorted by several of his followers, and we hadn't expected him, we were not prepared –' and now she was not wearing any sign of sorrow at all. Her defiant look showed a powerful desire of revenge, but also, weakness 'I hate it, Sirius. I really hate to be forced to escape over and over again. I would have loved to fight, to do my best to stop him, but instead we are always obliged to –'

'We'll beat him, darling. We'll do' James was touching his wife's hand kindly.

'So' asked Sirius 'there's no Divination teacher at Hogwarts right now?'

'Yes, there is a substitute, at least until June. But I think Dumbledore is considering the possibility of getting rid of the subject, he has never liked it, you know.' James, still showing affection for Lily, stared at his friend 'So now, Sirius, it's your turn. What have you been up to?'

'That's right, we haven't seen you since Christmas Eve.' Lily had a disappointed look on her face 'You didn't even come for my birthday. I loved your present, but still, _you_ would have been so much better for a present…'

'I'm sorry, Lily, I couldn't. I was quite far away to come here. I've been travelling all this time, I just came back two days ago' he made a little pause to finish his soup so he could help himself with a piece of chicken. Then he looked up, his grey eyes met the green and then the brown 'I've been traveling through Europe.'

Lily let out a gasp of excitement. 'Europe! That's amazing! Have you been to Greece? Did you visit the Parthenon? I've heard the Ancient Muggle Greek ruins are such a miracle –'

Sirius laughed, though it sounded more like a bark 'I wasn't on holidays, Lily. I was working for the Order. I didn't have time to stop and visit many things. I wasn't in Greece, anyway.' Lily seemed disappointed, though now all her attention was focused on her friend. Sirius smiled at her and went on 'I was sent to France, Spain and Portugal, though I didn't have time enough to stop at the last one.'

'But what did you exactly need to do in the south of Europe?' Lily, who had finished eating, was patting Minus absentmindedly.

'Dumbledore had decided that Europe should be analyzed' continued Sirius 'to see if we could count on them to fight Voldemort. He first wanted to know how much they know and how much they care, so he sent several of us to different destinations. I know, for instance, that Mary McDonald had to cover Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. So, first, we all had to investigate how the Europeans see our fight against Voldemort.

I started with France and I guess it was easier than what I thought it was going to be. For some reason, France has always been connected to the UK, maybe for its vicinity, and that helps us when it comes to doing favors. Of course, I don't have their government's word, or their promise that they would prepare their weapons, but I could feel they were quite concerned about our problem. I'm talking about the wizarding community, of course, because our instructions from Dumbledore about the muggles were simply to be informed about what they know or what they suspect. And I'm totally convinced that the European muggles know and suspect nothing at all.

And then, I travelled to Spain.' Sirius stopped to drink his butterbeer 'I had no idea that they've just come out from a horrible 40 years dictatorship. And that turned out to be a big problem. They've entered the democracy barely five years ago, and I could sense a lot of anxiety. I could tell that even the wizards and witches were more concerned about having freedom and rights – the same as muggles – rather than watching out what may happen to the British. I understand their point of view, so I couldn't build up a way to convince them.

And thus I explained to Dumbledore yesterday.'

After a little moment in which James and Lily both remained expectant, the first one cleared his throat and spoke. 'But… why you? Why did Dumbledore choose you? I mean… I didn't know you spoke French or Spanish –'

'No, definitely I can't speak French or Spanish, though now I know some very useful words…' Sirius was grinning absentmindedly. 'Anyway, the thing is that I live on my own, I don't really have family to take care of, and nobody would notice my two months absence –'

'We did!' replied Lily a bit upset.

'Well, yeah, but still, you had each other. And now, somebody else to look after.' said Sirius indicating Lily's stomach. 'And you seem to forget that I can be a charming peaceful dog that can hear conversations without being noticed while I pretend to be a lost animal.'

'But wait a moment…' asked Lily after a little time 'Dumbledore does not know you are an animagus, does he?'

'Nop' replied Sirius tasting his last piece of chicken. 'This chicken's great, by the way, Lily!'

'Thanks. So,' continued the girl who was definitely willing to know more 'how come you were involved in that trip if you couldn't speak those languages and Dumbledore was not aware of your animagus condition?'

Sirius normally broadly smile became even wider before he let out the noisiest and most natural laughter he had given off in quite a long time. 'Dumbledore reckons… _beauty_ can be as persuasive – or even more – as any good potion. He is right in thinking that potion can be searched whereas natural splendor can't. So he thought that I could kindly influence and convince women into telling me the information I needed.'

'Did you do that?' James asked while he roared with laughter.

'Of course he didn't!!!' answered Lily crossly before Sirius could came up with a reply 'You didn't do it, right?' Lily had turned to look at Sirius in such a worried way that it actually looked as though she was begging 'You didn't flirt to get information – right? You used your dog appearance, didn't you?'

'Well… actually it was kind of hard to make a living of rats – I can't deny that I _did_ use my influences on women to subsist a bit better…'

'SIRIUS!!!!' Lily looked astonished, perplex, breathless. 'but that's… that's horrible!! That's the kind of stuff the Death Eaters do to take out information!!'

'No, it is not. I didn't poison them, Lily, I didn't hex anyone. I was just… gentle and charming. That's not bad for anyone.'

'But yet you abandoned them the moment they had told you everything you needed, didn't you?' Lily didn't want to be convinced so easily.

'Come on, Lily, don't be so severe, Sirius was just following Dumbledore's orders.' James then directed his words to Sirius 'so, how are the European girls? Are they attractive –'

'Oh, for Merlin's sake!!!!' Lily didn't let her husband finish 'Men, they're all the same.' Then she looked down at her stomach and continued in a whisper, though audible enough for James and Sirius 'Harry, I hope you'll never be this way'

Suddenly the men stopped laughing and making any kind of noise or movement. They were both looking at Lily, their mouths wide open.

'HARRY???' they both asked.

Sirius turned to look at his friend as though he had never seen him properly before 'How come you don't know your son's name?' and then he turned to Lily 'And how come you KNOW it's a boy??'

'I… we… I don't know… didn't… LILY!!' mumbled James.

'Oh, James, I'm so sorry!! I promise I was going to tell you,' Lily looked rather embarrassed now 'I was just… you know, waiting for the right moment –'

'Oh, did you!?' James had lost his grin and was looking at Lily harshly 'And when was going to be that? When the boy got married!!??'

'No, darling… I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you, at least before everyone else…'

'Ok, since I'm kind of "everyone else" I think it's time for you to tell your husband –'

'So, how come you know?' asked James, ignoring Sirius observations.

Lily took a moment to look for the right words 'Well, the wizarding world let us do several things that Muggles can't even dream of. But when it comes to pregnancy, I think Muggles are quite more developed. The witch mother has to wait to give birth to know if she's having a boy or a girl, whereas Muggle women can find it out first. So last week I decided to do an ultrasound scan –'

'An _ultrasound_?' cut off James 'What for? What did you need to hear?'

'An ultrasound scan, mate' explained Sirius in a calm and soft voice 'is what pregnant Muggle women do to see if their baby is growing OK, if it's in good health… and also to know its sex.'

Lily stared at him 'you really amaze me, Padfoot. You definitely know a lot of things about Muggles.'

'You always keep forgetting that I fancy Muggle girls and so I have to know the basic things in a muggle common life. And, well, this thing about the ultrasound scan, I got related to it some time ago when I –'

'WHAT!!?? An ultrasound scan… What!!!??? Sirius!!! I didn't know –' Lily was, once again, exasperated.

'Hey hey!! No!! Lily, it's not that way!!' Sirius was grinning while he watched his friend thinking the wrong thing 'I'm sure you've misunderstood me! I didn't mean to say that a girl use it because of me. It's not that, don't worry. It's just that some time ago, I used to go out with a girl – woman, actually, cause she was quite older than me – and she was a doctor. She was, in fact, a gynecologist –'

'She was a _guy_ what??' James understood nothing at all.

'_Gynecologist_, James, the doctor – healer, who cares about women –'

'Well, anyway' James turned back to Lily. He seemed a bit bored about that Muggle stuff 'I just want to know how come you know about my son…'

Lily sighed before answer 'The thing is that I went there last week because I felt a bit heavy and so I thought there could be twins… it's just one, though, and the doctor said it's perfectly healthy… and a boy.' She glanced at his husband 'And Harry… well, I've been thinking about it for a few days and I came to the point that it's the best name. You know, after my father…' she then fixed her green eyes upon her husband looking for approval.

'Nice.' said James, and Lily smiled, relieved 'Harry Potter…' he said, as though tasting the name on his lips 'Harry Potter… Harry _James_ Potter…'

'Wait a moment, Harry _James_??' Lily was not so sure about that last bit.

'Well, it's quite obvious, isn't it? The boy needs a second name. A second name after _his_ father.'

But –'

'Well, I think you wouldn't like the boy to be fatherless, would you?'

'No, of course, but –'

'So, there's no better name.' the father was smiling proudly 'Harry James Potter, after his father, James Potter. The same as I am James _Charlus _Potter, after my father, Charlus. And the same as here our friend Sirius is –'

But James' grin faded away as he realized that they had never talk about second names, that he had never really asked his best friend what his middle name was.

Sirius, who had become conscious of the same thing, laughed 'Orion, mate. I'm Sirius Orion Black.'

'And I assume it is after Orion Black, your father?'

Sirius nodded.

James looked at Lily as though he had just won a battle 'See that, Lily? The boy _has to be _Harry James!!'

'All right, all right… Harry James Potter…' she then smiled kindly.

Sirius instinctively raised his butterbeer and his friends did the same. 'Cheers for the future'

'Cheers' answered both Lily and James.

The war was unavoidable; the time to fight was to come. But even though, they would have, not only someone to fight for, but a little person to live for and to have fun with in those dreadful hard times.


	2. Down by the river part I

**2. ****Down by the river. Part I**

'…_and tonight we'll have a great match: the always interesting _Thundelawa Thunderers _versus_ Woologong Warriors._ This match has been catalogue as one of the most dangerous Quidditch matches in England, because its players, but especially, its supporters are well known for being extremely violent. Remember that this year the _Thunderers_ are not getting so lucky since they've lost every home match and they couldn´t even beat the _Chudley Cannons _who are amazingly approaching the top three__. We'll see what happens tonight. Meanwhile, the _Cannons_ are preparing their match tomorrow against –'_

The bedroom door was opened and a hand turned off the radio. The owner of that hand, a 43 year-old woman, watched around, clearly looking for someone. Her eyes stopped at a point where an 8 year-old boy was located, his arms around his legs, his sight outside of the window, far away from his place, thinking about who knows what and, apparently, unaware of that new silence.

'Sirius, I've told you ten minutes ago that we were going to be late if we didn't hurry up!! You didn't have to do anything!! You didn't even need to prepare your things, Kreatcher has already done it for you, so I can't understand why you're still here!!' she approached her son 'are you listening to me, Sirius???'

The boy turned to look at his mother 'I don't wanna go…' he whispered looking at his mom's grey eyes, so alike his.

'Nonsense' replied the woman 'uncle Cygnus and aunt Druella are very happy to share their house with us for these two weeks, and you know that your cousins are very kind with you' Sirius was not so sure about that last piece of information.

'I don't wanna go…' he repeated.

But Wallburga Black was not listening. She seized her son's arm and pulled him out of the room. They went downstairs to find the other members of the Black family – Orion, the father, and Regulus, the younger son – already dressed up and prepared for the journey.

'Three minutes for the Portkey.' said Mr. Black in a quite irritated voice. He was staring at a plastic banana on the kitchen table and he looked as though he enjoyed that trip as much as his elder son.

'But why can't we go by floo?' asked Sirius innocently.

'I've told you' replied his mother, anxiously. She didn't stop staring at the banana, as though it might disappear without them 'The chimney communication is extremely weak with that part of England, we cannot do it that way, and I wouldn't want to lose your brother on same strange southern village.' Sirius actually wouldn't mind to lose Regulus for a while.

Three minutes later the four Blacks were holding the plastic banana and after several shivering moments, they landed on a grassy area. But they were not alone. A tall black-eyed woman with long dark brown hair and her 16 year-old daughter, a girl with an extremely pale skin and her mother's dark eyes, stood in front of them. Mother and daughter were resting in the middle of a big mountainous ground, about 2 inches from where the arrived family had just landed and 10 from a river that appeared to be quite cold.

Wallburga was the first to stand up and then she helped Regulus and Sirius.

The dark-eyed woman approached Wallburga 'I'm glad to see you, darling. Your things have just arrived in time and good conditions, I'm sure it's thanks to that house elf of yours.' Then, she looked at the rest of the family 'so we're all ready, right? Let's get inside, then'

'Thank you very much, Druella' answered the arrived woman. 'come on, boys.'

While Regulus immediately followed his mom's orders, Sirius felt more reluctant to do so. He looked around as though hoping there was another place more interesting to go. But, since he did not find it, he had no choice but went behind his mother's steps.

-x-x-x-x-

For Sirius, life at Cygnus' and Druella's holiday house was as exhaustingly boring as what it was at Grimmauld Place.

He was sick and tired of the tedious boy he had as brother who was constantly trying to imitate every single move Sirius did, but at the same time, he struggled hard not to annoy Wallburga – things which were a bit of a contradiction in themselves. He, also, seemed to enjoy the company of the cruel Bellatrix and her sister Narcisa, their cousins. Sirius, on the other hand, did not like them at all, in particular Bellatrix, that 16 year-old pale girl, who had an ordinarily strange concept of the word _fun_. And since Sirius favorite member of the family, his medium cousin Andromeda, was spending those two weeks on a trip with some friends, he found no interest in staying at home at all.

So, on his second day in that torturous conditions he decided to get outside of the house for a walk. He did not even ask his mother for permission. He did not want it, he did not need it. Besides, he was sure she was not going to let him go, at least alone. He had just arrived to the last step on the stairs, and he was about to move toward the front door when…

'Sirius, where are you going?' asked Wallburga from behind a door.

'I'm going outside. For a walk' he turned round to face her. He did not want to be afraid of her. And right when he thought she was about to argue back and make him stay at home, his aunt Druella appeared next to his mother to help him.

'It's ok, Wallbu. It's not necessary for the boy to spend the whole day in here. There's nothing bad outside, he can stay on the surroundings. Unless he crosses that hill there, where the _Mugles_ live…' she pronounced that last bit as though she was spiting 'but I'm sure he won't do it, isn't it that right, boy?'

He nodded innocently. After smiling kindly to his mother, he turned round again and started to walk towards the front door before his aunt – who was now talking about how horrible the _Muggles_ were – could change her mind.

Sirius did not exactly understand what was so bad about those _Muggles_. He had heard about them ever since he remembered, and he knew that, back in London, he and his parents and brother lived in a _Muggle_ neighborhood. Actually, he had seen many of them quite often from his bedroom's window, and he couldn't really tell what was wrong about them, or what could be the danger they could cause to wizards. Whenever he had asked that to his mother or father, he just could come to the conclusion that the only difference was that _Muggles_ couldn't produce magic, but the way their parents talked about the perfection of the Black gift (that is to say, the fact that they have been wizards for so long) seemed as though they were practically royal.

Sirius' smile changed into the most malicious grin an 8 year-old boy could produce the moment he stepped outside of the house. If there was something he liked about his family was how much he enjoyed when they get really angry about his misbehavior. He really wanted to discover how the _Muggle_ zone was, and the fact that his mother didn't want him to draw near the non-magical part was definitely significant to make him desire to approach it even more.

He started to walk rapidly away from the house. After stepped over the cold river, little hills came into view, and it was rather clear that there was a secret separation between that part in which the house was in – the magical zone – and the other side of the nearest mountain. It wasn't a visible obstruction but a sensed one he clearly felt when he walked into it. He guessed _Muggles_ could not see it either, but they may thought there was nothing else beyond the top of that mountain.

The _Muggle_ zone was… not that unusual. Actually, if it hadn't been for the thing he felt when he crossed the magical barrier, he wouldn't have said that he had arrived to a different place.

Birds sang and the stream produced a beautiful sound whenever its water crashed against a rock. Trees, heathers, bushes, flowers and all kinds of plants encircled that little river and its stones. The green gamut that was so scarce near his aunt and uncle's house was the uppermost color there.

Sirius liked that place where he could find comfort, safety and, above all, quietness. He moved carelessly around for a couple of minutes until he found the right place to sit down by the river.

But his break ended quite soon because suddenly a noise came from behind him. Somebody was trying to arrive to that same point where Sirius was sitting. He did not want to look back, for he knew that it could be his mother – or even worse, Bellatrix – but when this someone spoke, it has nothing to do with any Black.

'I used to sit there, it's such a nice place… I guess I should have left a sign telling that it was my seat.'

Even though those words seemed a little bit of a threat, the sweet and innocent voice that produced them gave the impression to be nothing like that.

'But anyway, we can share it'

And, as she said that, a skinny blonde girl attempted to sit next to him. She seemed a bit clumsy as she did so, trying graceless to fit the right stone so she could prevent herself for falling. Finally, she managed to sit down, and so Sirius was able to see her properly. She was young, about Sirius age, and quite small. Her hair was blond and short, and she had freckles all over her pointed nose and her cheeks. She was wearing a blue sleeveless dress (definitely a muggle dress), and she was looking at him – undoubtedly, she had the weirdest eyes Sirius had ever seen: her right eye was brightly blue, whereas the left one was emerald green with a few little blue dots. Sirius, unable to stand her staring at him, turned his head to look at the water. She did the same and said:

'Beautiful, isn't it? I like throwing little stones into the water, you know, so they do that flip-flop thing over the surface' she waved her hand in three curves as she spoke 'but I can't never actually do it… you know what? I think such things just happen in films.'

She then started to talk about those _films_ and how _someone_ did amazing things on them, or _for_ them, or _to_ them, or whatever she was talking about. But Sirius was not listening because he had just realized he had met a _Muggle_, the first one he had ever seen so close and, definitely, the first one who had ever talked to him. It was so obvious she was so gracelessly _unmagical_ – or maybe, _unmagically_ graceless – that Sirius understood it straight away. But what was the danger in it? He found the girl a bit clumsy but nice, though.

'Who are you?' she suddenly asked.

"_I'm a wizard and I'm talking to a Muggle. I bet my mom would've had a heart attack if she saw me right now._"

Instead of that, he simply replied. 'Sirius Black'

'_Sirius_?' she seemed surprised. 'Is that a name?'

'Actually' he answered in the best adultish way he could come up with 'It's the name of a star. Sirius is the brightest star on the firmament.'

'So your parents are astronomers?' the girl looked interested.

'Not exactly, they just like stars.' Sirius lied. He did not want to explain that he was named after the brightest star because of his family's pretentiousness.

'Weird.' She then added 'I think I've never seen you before. My name is Kelly Bolton. I'm on holidays in this village but I'm from Coventry, do you know Coventry? You're not from here, are you?'

'No, I'm from London and I don't know Coventry, sorry.'

'LONDON!!!' shouted Kelly, exited 'that's amazing!! I love it every time I go! You normally use the Tube, don't you?'

'I… actually I don't. I don't use it.' Sirius was confused. Speaking to a Muggle was more difficult than what he had imagined. What was that "Tee-you" thing she was talking about? Did she expect him to understand that word? He guessed she did. 'Do you want to play a game?' he asked before the girl could start interrogating again. But actually, he did fancy playing with Kelly.

'Yeah, great!' she seemed enthusiastic with the idea of playing with that boy 'why don't we try to build a stone bridge that cross the river from one part to another?'

Sirius had never imagined himself playing with a Muggle girl. He had spent the first years of his existence sharing games with his brother until he realized how boring he was. That happened less than a year ago and since then he had wandered alone, annoying his mom, plotting the worst jokes for Kreatcher, but basically, spending the time with no one else but himself.

And that thing that was happening there was very, very different. Not only had he found a person with whom he really wanted to play, the most important point was that the girl was a Muggle.

For about a week, Sirius spent every morning and every evening with Kelly – he only went back to the family house to eat and to sleep so they didn't really think he had vanished.

On the riverbank Sirius and Kelly laughed and talked, and built but they also spent time running and throwing stones into the cold water.

The girl was filled with enthusiasm with the challenge of building a stone bridge, but no matter how hard she tried, how many strategies she used, her monument was everything but a proper bridge. Sirius, on the contrary, was about to arrive to the other side of the river by the third day, but seeing how badly Kelly was doing, he decided to destroy half of it in a moment the girl was not looking.

But in spite of the destruction, Kelly was conscious Sirius was doing much better than her.

'How come you're so good?' she asked on the fourth day, when she had only put three stones together while Sirius' bridge was becoming bigger and longer.

The boy hesitated. 'Well, my father is…a _constructionist_, so I guess it's in the family blood'

'_Constructionist_? You mean builder?' Kelly had stopped to stare at him.

'Well, he's a kind of builder…' Ouch, how strange Muggle words were! 'But, you know, just a type. Constructionist'

Kelly didn't look very convinced but it seemed as though she didn't really cared how weird he was.

On the following day – the fifth – Kelly gave up. She admitted she had lost and she asked whether she could help Sirius to finish his bridge. And he loved it.

The morning Sirius stepped out of the house to meet Kelly for the "official inauguration" of their bridge, he felt a peculiar sensation. He put it down to the emotion of their achievement, but the truth was that he had the impression he was being followed on his way to the Muggle riverbank. Since he couldn't see anyone else and he was about to arrive, he soon got rid of the idea. Especially the moment he saw how bright and big Kelly smile was that morning.

'Today is my birthday' Kelly couldn't hide her excitement 'the 10th of August and Kelly Bolton turns 9. How does it feel to be nine?'

'I don't know, I'm gonna be nine in a couple of months'

'I am the older in here.' Her smile became even bigger. 'Cool'

'So' there was only a stone left for the bridge to be perfect, the last stone. They had already selected it the day before. Sirius leaned down to take it. 'It's up to you to place the last stone' he smiled kindly 'I think this is a good present… the inauguration of our bridge'

Kelly's eyes, normally filled with brightly enthusiasm, were more colorful than ever looking at the round stone she held on one of her tiny and bony hands. She extended the stone towards Sirius 'we both do it'.

And there she was, happily sharing her birthday present with her new friend. And there he was, as delighted as her, holding both of Kelly's hands and touching the stone with his cold fingers. After placing it in its correct position they stood up and Kelly couldn't stop jumping all around until she ended up in his arms…embracing him. Suddenly, their distance almost disappeared, their heads were cheek to cheek. They separated a little bit to look at each other and then… and then they got closer… and thus they shared their sweet and innocent first kiss.


	3. 22 Down by the river part II

**A/N**: This is the only chapter you should have read the previous one (_Down by the river. Part I_) before starting it. The reason why _**part**__**one**_ended so poorly was that there was a continuation, and here it is, finally! Enjoy it!!

**2. Down by the river. ****Part ii**

Everything happened too fast for any of them to prevent what was about to take place. Kelly flew – literally flew – and crashed on a distant tree's truck.

Sirius turned to see what could have caused Kelly's flight, and, horrified, discovered that they were not alone in the riverbank.

'HOW DARE YOU!!!????' the least person Sirius was willing to see was approaching him, her wand desperately pointing as a threat. Bellatrix normally pale face looked even more scaring accompanied by her defiant stare. 'HOW DARE YOU!!!???? You, disgraceful little bastard!! Who do you think you are to betray your family like this??' She had finally arrived to Sirius side, and her wand was barely a hand from his face. But Sirius was not scared of her anymore, he just wanted to protect Kelly and stopped Bellatrix from getting anywhere near her. Close as he was, Sirius punched as hardly as he could in his cousin's right hand, thing which made her wand fell and so Sirius could gain a little bit of time to get to Kelly.

However, Bellatrix laughed, crazily amused 'Stupid little muggle-lover!! Who do you think you are? I'm much older and much intelligent than you. Do you really think your little friend is going to escape?'

'I know you're not 17 yet!! I know you cannot do magic outside school!' shouted Sirius, furious.

Bellatrix malicious laugh made him shiver 'And what?' she had recovered her wand and was, once again, pointing defiantly at Kelly. Meanwhile, Sirius was trying, as hard as he could, to delay Bellatrix attempt to attack the Muggle girl while he was also thinking in a way to safe his friend. 'No one would care. And actually, the whole Black family will support my act, your mom the first –.'

But Bellatrix could not finish because Sirius, fast as he was thanks to his age, crouched, took the biggest stone nearby and threw it to Bellatrix with the correct marksmanship to hit his cousin's head. Bellatrix wand, directed by her crazy hand, started to hurl different colors of spells while her scream became even louder. One of those spells, unfortunately, hit the unconscious Kelly, whose body flew once again towards the tree and her head was hit by one of the branches. Sirius could see, horror-struck, that blood was coming out of Kelly's forehead.

And right in the moment when he thought that everything was lost, that Bellatrix was going to kill Kelly –or even both of them – right in the moment when his mad cousin had her wand up in the air, ready to hit any of the two of them, two people, a young man and a woman, Apparated between them, while Bellatrix's wand was suddenly situated a head above its owner.

'According to the 1945 Law within the magical treatment towards Muggles it is completely forbidden to –'

The young man placed his hand in front of the paper the woman was reading in order to stop her.

'There must have been a mistake…' the male exclaimed in a pretended calm voice. He had clearly recognized a member of one of the most notorious families within the Magical World who also happened to be the most wayward girl in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

'No, there's no mistake, Rodolphus, we've just had a warning that magic has been produced against a Muggle –' the woman looked clearly confused.

'Probably there has only been an accident' his scared smile was directed to Bellatrix. Perhaps only a few years younger, Bellatrix showed the confidence in herself and the characteristic arrogance from an experimented person the so-called Rodolphus boy could only dream of having in that moment. Her self-assurance grew as she approached the boy.

'That's right, you know me, you know who my family is and so you, both of you, wouldn't want to mess up with the Blacks, isn't it that right?'

'This is not a question about family this is a matter of –' the woman started.

'You are – what's the polite word for mud… – muggle-born, aren't you?' cut Bellatrix.

Meanwhile, Sirius led himself towards Kelly's body. She was totally unconscious and Sirius just wished these people hadn't come too late. He kneeled and touched Kelly's bright blonde hair right before he held her hand in his.

Behind him, Bellatrix's voice kept remarking her version to the young boy who was charmed by her. Some steps, though, were approaching Sirius.

'Don't worry about her' The Ministry woman had probably accepted she couldn't do anything against a Black member and so she left Bellatrix to her partner while she tried to repair the damage. 'Don't worry, I'm gonna fix this. I know you care about your friend, but she's going to be OK. There are some Healers who are coming right away to take her to St. Mungo.'

Sirius mistrustful eyes looked up at her, still holding Kelly's hand. 'She's gonna be alright, I promise.' But then she added, seeing that the boy must know and couldn't have a wrong idea. 'But she has to forget.'

Sirius released Kelly's hand finally and stood up, as though approaching his speaker would make his speech more trustworthy. 'She won't say anything, she's a really nice girl, she'll understand.'

'She's a muggle, though'

'But could she…??' Sirius was still doubtful 'There are several wizards and witches that come from muggle families, I've heard my mom calling them mudbloods, I know they exist…'

The woman pretended she hadn't heard Sirius pronouncing that very rude word 'But she's not one of us. The Ministry has a record on every muggle child that might have magical skills. I've been working on that list for this area and I can tell you she's a very muggle girl. She does not belong to our world, sweetheart.'

'But could she be in a future? There're still two years until she can go to Hogwarts…'

She shook her head. 'The magical skills appear in muggle child around the age of 4, 5 and sometimes even 7 but if the boy or the girl has turn 8 and there are still no proper magical gifts…' … 'look, darling, we had a record on Miss Bolton some years ago. She was indeed really… weird for a muggle, but we came to the conclusion that she is not, and she can't be a witch, ever. She can't belong to your world. To our world. I'm sorry.' She was actually really sorry. Seeing how that little boy was really caring for his mugle friend made her believe that the world was truly unfair.

Just by the noise of Bellatrix voice explaining her version to the family members that were approaching to the area by that time – probably called by the Ministry – the woman went back to the group right after she panted Sirius's head and, smiling, added 'She's gonna be fine, don't worry.' Though, deep inside of her, while coming closer to the Black family members that were shouting and yelling at poor Rodolphus Lestrange, she somehow knew that the biggest problem there was not exactly the muggle girl, but the little wizard boy who had to endure with a racist family he clearly didn't belong to.


End file.
